News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Show HN: Kryptonite – a new home for your SSH private key by tptacek on Tuesday May 02, 2017 @05:02PM (#14250559)
No, this is in fact why everyone says not to use SMS as an authentication factor. When you use TOTP applications like Google Authenticator on your phone, you are no longer relying on the security of the GSM network. I don't think your arguments here are very coherent.
Re:Show HN: Kryptonite – a new home for your SSH private key by peterwwillis on Tuesday May 02, 2017 @05:31PM (#14250809)
I will try to simplify; it doesn't make any more sense, I give up.

First argument: If your token generator or private keys are on a device connected to a network, they will eventually get compromised, given enough time and resources. The more attack vectors there are, the more likely a compromise is. Phones have more attack vectors than non-phone computers, so they are more likely to get compromised.

Second argument: Of the computing devices available today, phones tend to have at least as bad a security track record as modern non-phone computers. The average user can generally harden a non-phone computer's security* and pick more secure hardware, to improve their security position. But the user cannot generally do the same with a phone.* *

Summary:

Non-phone computers are not only more secure due to having less attack vectors, but their ability to be secured more than a phone makes them even more trustworthy. If you had to pick a place to keep keys, a non-phone device is more secure than a phone.

* by extending existing os security features or using 3rd party software

* * or at least, I'm not aware of comparable methods for phones; there may be some software hardening tools out there for phones, but the hardware is much more limited